A different War
by Harkon
Summary: A soldier, torn from battle and flung far into the future. Can he find brothers-at-arms, amongst the monsters? A rewrite.
1. I never get an easy day, never

_Okay folks, before we get started, here is a handy reference 'timeline.' it mixes canon and my own changes together, I'd give it a look before reading, otherwise you'll be cussing me in reviews for fucking things up._

_1980- Voldemort dies at the hands of Harry Potter's instinctual magic._

_1991-Harry enters Hogwarts, befriends Ron and Hermione_

_1993- Sirius Black found innocent, he along with Mad eye Moody, Remus Lupin and Albus Dumbledore begin training Harry to defeat Voldemort._

_1994- Voldemort returns, but is weak from revival, Harry Save Cedric's life, fights Voldemort to a stand still and escapes._

_1995- Harry Completes Phoenix Knight training, undergoes enhancement ritual._

_1996- Open warfare for much of the year, Hermione Granger undergoes ritual and becomes a phoenix knight training. Ron Weasley dies a hero's death._

_1999- Albus Dumbledore Dies, Harry takes over leadership of the Order._

_2003- Wizarding world is in turmoil. Wards are erected over great Britain, Sealing in the growing threat of Voldemort, the British citizens are on their own._

_2004- Harry goes into battle a final time, (Being vague for plot reasons). Voldemort falls into a magical coma, from which no one believes he will awaken, his body is buried in a vault, five miles below the surface of the planet, the vault is made of Mythril, and is guarded by a group of six Hungarian horntails. The surface entrance is sealed, and the tunnel leading to the vault collapses. Voldemort slumbers_

_The wards around Britain are dropped, and a mass wave of obliviation is sent out, erasing the muggles minds over what happened as the war broke free from the wizarding world. The wider world believe Britain was quarantined from an aggressive virus that has not been contained._

_2005-2100- Rapid advances in muggle technology frightens the wizards so bad that they draw deeper within their own culture. After nearly a hundred years, and nearly getting discovered multiple times, wizards enact a fail safe device. 99% of the magical population are deposited into a pocket dimension from which they can't return. The muggle world is none the wiser. Voldemort's fingers twitch, and his vital signs rise ever so slightly, a single blip on his brain activity flickers._

_2101-2500- Humans expand in tech exponentially, able to colonize 800 worlds. _

_2511- John-117 is born._

_2525- Humans encounter the Covenant._

_2552-(NOTE: This is where the halo time line diverges from canon, as opposed to my original idea about having Harry pop up when the spartans are younger, I am throwing him farther into the future, and changing it to fit my needs, this is primarily done for a few reasons, one, John's whereabouts are not known fully in and around this time. We know he receives his armor during this time, and that he is on reach briefly before boarding Reach Station Gamma. The halo time line is muddled and complicated and confusing, I am streamlining it for my readers)_

_strange Forerunner technology is discovered on Reach, Halsey Unwittingly activates it, sending out a signal that draws in the Covenant. John receives Cortana early, a well as his armor. Do to the strange tech on Reach, The covenant send in massive ground forces. The UNSC brings in as many troops as possible, including the Spartan II's and the spartan IIIs, John teams up with Noble team in an attempt to find Halsey before the Covenant completely over run the planet._

_Phoenix Knight: This is an idea that has been floating around in my head for years, and it completely diverges from canon. The original Order of the Phoenix started in ancient Egypt. The were a personal guard to the Pharaoh, and had found ways to increases their physical and magical capabilities via a ritual. The ritual increases physical strength, speed, reaction time, senses, expands the users magical core._

_The down sides of the ritual: It can cause severe paranoia in some individuals, it renders 80% of subjects sterile, and for up to six months after the ritual is complete, the user can have powerful bursts of uncontrolled magic, along with severe mood swings and anger management problems._

_There are so few order members because the ritual does not work on everyone, and can actually kill someone, especially if they're not in peak physical condition. That's why knights train extensively for several years before undergoing the ritual. It can also increase longevity, but that differs from person to person._

_Flamel along with Dumbledore discovered the ritual in Dumbledore's youth. They studied it extensively and recreated it. Dumbledore was the first Phoenix night in several thousand years. The procedure rendered him infertile, but gave him the strength to defeat Grindewald. Mad Eye is also a knight, but has bad bouts or crippling paranoia, that he only just barely holds at bay with occulmency._

_One final note before the story actually starts. Phoenix knights used an advanced armor system, made from basilisk and dragon plate and hide. It is charmed to be extra spell resistant, the hide is also imbued with the essence of a dragon and basilisk, further increasing the wearers reaction time and strength. They are spelled to filter the air due to Voldemort using poisonous gas so often in a battle. (One reason death eaters wear the masks, to filter out the toxins their master uses.) The helmets have built in communication mirrors, and mini marauding maps, that fill out at about two hundred feet around the wearer, they change and move as the wearer does, allowing them better situational awareness._

_War is tough, you have to take every advantage you can. The idea that canon order of the Phoenix goes around in day clothes and loafers has never made any sense to me. The armor is my answer to that, an advanced combat system to help protect them and help hurt the enemy. What soldier goes into battle without armor?_

_Okay folks, I know that's a lot of background information, but its kinda necessary for a story like this. I'm trying to weave together two very different fandoms, so I had to make them a bit more similar first. If you ever get confused about something, refer to the info above, if that doesn't help you any, drop me a PM, or a review and I'll do my best to answer your question. Its very easy as a writer to miss putting something on a page that's floating around in your head. So bare with me. Also, some things will be explain in story, and somethings will be left as a mystery until later. This is gonna be a big one after all._

_Hold on to your pants, here we go!_

Chapter 1: I'll never have a peaceful day, never.

I hate purebloods. I'd kill every one of the bastards if I could get away with it. I might end up doing it anyway, Azkaban couldn't be as bad as the hell Britain has become. In the last year Tom has killed over a third of the muggle population. With the ICW sealing in our borders, trapping us all with this monster and his minions, he's had almost complete reign. Almost total control. Muggle hunting is a sport now, openly celebrated by those pureblood assholes I mentioned earlier. If it wasn't for us, there'd be nothing left. The few, the desperate, the Order of the Phoenix.

Its to bad the ritual old Dumbledore found doesn't work on more people, we could certainly use more members. Out of the current generation of Hogwarts students, nine of them have been able to undergo the ritual without serious complications. Poor Dean is gonna end up as the new mad eye. Anyway, with those nine new additions we've got about sixty capable fighters on our side, old Voldie has several hundred humans at the least. Not to mention all the werewolves and the bloody giants he's got stomping around. Can't forget the dementors either, never forget those blokes

I glanced up from the map I'd been studying and look at Hermione with a critical eye. She's not the same bouncy little girl she was when we met, constant war, training and fighting have changed her, shaped her into a weapon, one nearly as sharp as I am. The two of us single handedly destroyed a platoon of death eaters and dark creatures when they took Ron from us. It was six months ago and my hair still has a red tinge to it. I looked around the back of the magically expanded cargo truck we commandeered from the muggles.

Sixty three of us in all, sixty three physically, magically, and mentally enhanced individuals, against an army almost a thousand strong all be told. We were heading in to give it one last hurray, Voldemort himself would be making an appearance today, along with a huge number of his followers. We'd gotten wind he was going to be making a speech to the muggle populace, those that were left. They'd be given an option, join as slaves and live out their lives in hard work and degradation, or be killed on sight.

With any hope we wouldn't give him the chance to even complete the thing before we attacked. I activated the silencing charms and disillusion charm on the hull of the truck. "Alright everyone, helmets on and locked, I don't want anyone poisoned before we can even get into the damn street. We're going to go give Tom and his little cock suckers something to remember us by. If you don't make it, save me and Tom a seat in hell, we'll meet you there." My team roared, blood pumping, and adrenaline flowing. Helmets fell over faces, the eyes glowed blue with the power of their magic. A hiss filled the air as the suits were sealed. Heavy plates of augmented Basilisk and dragon hide could stop anything short of a nuke or an AK, we'd need it today. My own helmet slid down in to place and the snap-hiss filled my ears. It was dark for a fraction of a second before my vision returned. The eyes glowed green with my magic. Power coursed through me as I summoned Ice and frost in my left hand, and fire and heat in my other, two opposite elements, and my specialty.

Hermione cuffed me on the shoulder, her own eyes a vibrant orange from the energy that swirled inside her. I heard her voice over the communication mirror. "_Stay safe, if they kill you too, I'll destroy it all Harry, every last person and brick, Britain will sink into the sea."_

I gave her a nod. "_I know, just don't die on my Mione. We've got a lot to do, after Tom's dead."_

She just shook her head and laughed as the truck rolled to a stop. "_Always so optimistic Mr. Potter."_

I gave one more little comment as the door opened, letting the gray light of the day stream inside. _"You know me, I try."_

We'd pulled up right behind the Deatheaters and their fearless leader. I roared in anger at the sight of them all and we charged, all sixty of us, straight out the back of the truck. Chaos erupted as we flooded the streets, curses, hexes, and elemental force was launched from both sides. I froze a deatheater and turned to melt his partner into a pile of ash. A back flip over two incoming AKs That slammed into each other mid air and caused a minor explosion of power. I launched my elemental attacks as one, swirling them together even as they fought each other, freezing and burning deatheaters all at the same time.

I slid under a wave of severing curses and jumped high into the air, kicked Lucius Malfoy in the face and sent a blasting hex into his chest. He's thrown backwards into a mob of deatheaters, blood pouring from his mouth and body. I tensed and leaped to the side, an arch of red lighting caught me in the arm. One of the nice things about these suits, whole body spells like the cruciatus become localized.

My arm locked up and I grit my teeth, everything from my shoulder to my fingertips is on fire but I push through it and catch her with a dark cutter, slicing off her wand hand. The muggles screamed and ran, scattering like rats from a dying ship. I can't blame them much, we must seem like gods to them, when in reality, we're no better, and in a lot of ways worse. Hermione is off to my left, tearing into a group of half-turned werewolves with a set of ghost like scimitars, conjured from her majik alone.

Tom stood up on a stage in front of a podium, and he smiled at me. I walked toward him, and kicked Bellatrix in the gut, sending her rolling. She lies still and I hope I broke the bitch's spine. "Well well, if it isn't the boy-who-lived, the dark hero. Lord Potter."

My eyes narrow and the glow given off by the slits in my helmet increased, giving off a menacing air. My suit has scanned the environment and detected lethal levels of toxins. If I removed my helmet my blood would begin to boil and my organs would rupture in minutes. Tommy boy stands right as rain, breathing deep and easy. Just goes to show how human he is.

"Lord Voldemort, heir of Slytherin. And a royal pain in my ass. How have you been?" We stand in the middle of the battle, like the eye of a storm, apparently calm and relaxed. Anyone that can sense magic is on their knees in pain over the power radiating off us. Its not often a wizard is born that can give off a visible aura. Two of them in close proximity can be devastating to those sensitive to magic.

"Come to die Harry? And so young too, miss your red headed friend? What was his name? I forget." I push down the anger he makes flare up. I may be ritually enhanced and entombed in a suit of armor the muggles won't be able to match for at least a century, but he's still got fifty years on me, and he isn't exactly human anymore.

"Ron's saving me a seat Tom, but I plan on keeping him waiting a bit longer. Are you ready to get this over with old man? I've got a date later after all." I pretend to buff my nails, even though I can't see them, and I know I've riled him up some.

"Stupid Potter spawn. You'll kiss my feet before I end your miserable life. I'll drown you in the blood of that dirty veined whore you keep around."

I stiffen, no one talks about Hermione that way. Without raising a hand I push out with my magic, forming it into an invisible ball of kinetic energy and launch it at the self appointed dark lord. He's caught off guard by the gesture and is pushed backward before he's able to shake it off. Time to end this. I leap up into the air, carried on the currents of magic and open up the floodgate. Pure magic, channeled with righteous rage and desperation pour out of me. My suit beeps in my ear, warning me that I'm pushing myself past the level a normal wizard can go. But I'm Harry Fucking Potter, and I will not be denied this.

Tom roars at me and throws up his hands, attempting to catch the blast that would render lesser monsters to dust. His hands blister and two fingers burn away to ash but he holds the blast back and pushes it away from himself. That's when I strike. I tear in low to the ground, throwing severing curses, balls of fire and spikes of ice, all in an attempt to pierce his defenses. Tom deflects it all except one blast of ice that catches him in the shoulder. He ignores it and pours on his own curses. The armor protects me from any physical attack, cutting curses and gauging attacks slide right off, but a bludgeoner to the arm pulls it out of socket and sends me stumbling to the ground. I feel the suit tighten around the injury, pulling the arm painfully back into place and I rotate it, side stepping a killing curse and sending out a blast of fiendfyre that surrounds Tom. He freezes it in place, how the hell he did it I don't know, and animates the ice demons against me.

A spray of acid dissolves them all and a sword of pure white flame jumps into my hand as I reach him. I swing and he blocks with a black blade of his own. He was always one for cliches. We dance and weave around each other, blocking and defending, I'm slowly driving him backward. He might know more magic than I do, but I could out fight him with a blade any day. He blocks one of my attacks and drops his hand, flooding my midsection with a point blank crucio spell that knocks the breath out of me. He drops the curse and kicks me in the chest with enhanced strength and sends me sprawling in the dirt.

I don't have time to catch him breath as random deatheater number 46 decides to be a hero and tries to kill me with a point blank sectumsempra. I just glare at him hard enough and use wandless magic to liquify his brain in this head, what little of one he had anyway. He falls over dead and I jump to my feet, back flipping to avoid the stab the dark lord tried to deliver. I smirk, even though he can't see it, and summon two earth golems to crush the bastard underneath. I catch Bellatrix struggling to her feet, she's got a knife in her hand but she can barely stand. I pay her just enough attention to know where she is and turn my eyes back to Tom. He's battling the golems with gusto, laughing as he turns one to rubble and uses it to summon one of his own to try to smash me. Our attention is divided. On one hand we're mentally giving a golem commands to kill the other, and then we're defending against one.

Voldemort grimaces and drops his concentration for a moment. My golem catches him on the back of the head and sends him into the dirt, blood pouring from his eyes and mouth. And then his own golem manages to hit me. I'm sent flying, less hurt, protected in my armor, and land in a sprawled heap. Instantly my golem crumbles to earth as a red ritual ring flares up, trapping me inside something that was previously invisible, that bastard! He's been trying to position me in the portal since I showed up, someone betrayed us.

"Now, Bella, do it now! Rid me of this troublesome bug!" Tom sounds delirious, he's battered and bloody, his head looks slightly smashed in from where my golem got to him. I look at Bellatrix as Tom slumps unconscious. The knife wasn't for someone else. It was for her.

I yell, trying to get Hermione's attention, but its too late. With one last bloody smile, Bellatrix stabs herself in the chest with the blade and the light dims in her eyes, as the ritual circle flares. My vision whites out, and I'm filled with agony.

2.

Planet Reach 2552

Dr. Halsey knelt, stunned before a glowing box the color of viridian. A projection of an alien woman appeared before her. She seemed humanoid, and ageless. "Catherine Halsey, we have much to discuss, and little time to do it in."

Dr Halsey sat enraptured by this creature as she spoke of the future, and of a man, from long ago, that would help bring peace to the galaxy. "He is integral to the plan. You must help the reclaimer, your John, understand this. Their path is long, and dangerous. But they can succeed, only if they are on the same side. This man, brought forward from the past, has a great destiny, and it is interwoven with the reclaimer's. I beseech you Catherine Halsey, convince these two, that they must work as one, before they leave this place."

With that, the figure faded, leaving behind only an ominous, blinking, red light.

3.

Screaming, chaos, a billion flashes of bright light, man landing on mars, colonizing the known universe, a hideous hulking figure, mandibles drooling and snapping. Demons, warriors, more screaming, planets burned to a crisp. A weapon forged from human children. My mind burned and ached. I went insane, and screamed until my throat shredded itself. I recognized a few lines of the ritual circle before I flashed away. It was meant to erase me from existence, but there was an error. It displaced me from time.

Was this my fate? After all the fighting, training and war? Giving up my ability to have children, the pain and agony of the enhancement ritual, just to be stuck drifting outside time? I don't think so. I started to pull myself together, to push away the pain and the flash of events. I locked it all away in the back of my mind, and felt out with my magic. If I strained hard enough I could just barely fell cracks around me, but they were hard to grasp. It was like I was falling at a thousand miles an hour, and trying to grab a thread to stop myself. So I tried to slow down.

It took time, ten minutes and a century all at once, it was strange how time seemed to pass when there wasn't any. It felt like a blink took a life time, and yet a breath passed in milliseconds. I pushed against the pull of time and reached out. Before me I could barely see a crack, just a glance at an Earth like planet, and some sort of fight. After falling for what felt like years I was just desperate to escape. I dug a finger in that crack, and pushed it open, before gritting my teeth and diving in.

A thunderous boom ushered my back into the time stream, As it faded from my ears a dozen beeps and alarms were going off in my suit all at once. It didn't seem to like the situation I found myself in anymore than I did.

I was falling at terminal velocity, clouds rushed past me and energy rolled off me in waves, crackling like lightning. I righted myself in the air to increase drag and tried to slow down a bit, and I managed, if just a little. The little dots down below me were fast approaching and growing vivid detail. On one side of some sort of factory, monsters short and tall stood. A few of them were squat little things, probably no more than three feet high, several looked like birds, and a few towered at what had to be nine feet. On the other side a few humans wearing combat fatigues were staring up at me, their mouths hanging open in shock. Several more beings stood amongst them, but they were tall, at least seven feet, and housed in different colored armor, faces covered in a vibrant golden visor. It struck me how odd it was that they had armor similar to my own. Perhaps the muggles had finally caught up to magic.

I was going to fast to try to fly, I could go quick, but nothing like this. So I wrapped myself in an invisible shield, and curled up into a crouch. I threw down a cushioning charm below myself mere feet before I struck the ground and tensed as I slammed into the dirt. The blaring in my suit intensified for a moment before dying off. The shield and the cushioning charm prevented major damage, but my damn teeth were still vibrating in my head.

I sat in a bloom of dust, crouched in a small crater of my own making and waited for my head to stop spinning. I stood and dispersed the dust with a wave of my hand. One of the humans, in green, battle scarred armor tilted his head at me. I shrugged. What could I say? The stalemate didn't last long.

Some of the monsters were huge and covered in muscle, foam dripped from snapping jaws filled with needle like teeth. One of them roared from across the yard of the factory and open fired on me with some sort of gun that shot blue bolts of energy. I deflected them with a shield conjured in my hand and launched a cutting curse. The thin beam of energy sliced into its chest, causing some sort of shield it had to fail as it was sent sprawling in the dirt, hurt but alive. Interesting.

I conjured fire and ice in my hands and waded into the new battle. Only the big bastards had the shields and I took them out fast enough by draining the shield with a blast of magic and then either freezing them or burning them to a crisp I learned the hard way to freeze the little guys, they had some kind of breathing apparatus filled with something flammable, the explosion was pretty awesome though. All in all, the fight didn't last long. With my arrival we pushed them back and decimated them. Magic had a way of doing that. Especially if you weren't used to it.

The same green armored guy walked up, tense and weapon drawn as the others surrounded me. His voice was a deep baritone. "Who the hell are you?"

To Be Continued

_Okay guys, this is more of a teaser chapter than anything else, if anybody likes it, now that I've got something written, I'll continue. If not then I suppose I'll drop it or put it up for adoption._

_Expect an update for Future of Ruin within the next couple of days._

_- Harkon._


	2. The Enemy of my Enemy

Okay, well cool enough, some of you out there are actually interested in this little tale, and for that I appreciate it. I would like to once again, point out that there are significant canon differences, and that they are intentional for story reasons.

The Halo universe is deeply rooted in lore, far more so than your average first person shooter. I have tried to simplify things, so that people that have only played the games can understand. That being said, expect radical differences to the story and timeline, especially after the events of the first halo ring. This is not going to be Halo: Combat Evolved with Harry Potter tagging along. This, I hope, will be radically different. Mostly because I've always found Do over stories boring, and those that just follow along with the plot with some extra dialogue or an extra scene or two to be very boring and repetitive. If you guys are reading this, you've read Harry Potter, and you've played Halo, why go back and do the same stuff again?

As a final reminder, canon for Halo: Reach has been significantly changed. The Spartans objective is to primarily destroy Sword base, and rescue Doctor Halsey. John is with them and already has Cortana, so Halsey giving her to Noble six is a moot point. Instead, she has information to give John, and to try to convince him, of what she has been shown. Please read this before reading the chapter and calling canonical bullshit on me lol.

Anyway, down the rabbit hole.

Chapter 2: The Enemy of my Enemy... is my Enemy's Enemy

I'm disoriented, confused. I've just traveled through a rift in time, far flung into the future as far as I can tell, and this guy has the nerve to ask me who the hell I am? I didn't have time for that shit. I had to find a way to get back home, if I even could. I looked into the eyes of one of the few soldiers that wasn't wearing his helmet at the moment and delved into his mind as gently as I could.

Year 2552, spartan project, covenant, planet Reach, I was on another planet? It felt like several minutes to me, but less than a second passed outside. Mind magics are funny like that. I got every scrap of info out of the guy that I could without hurting him. So the spartans are a biologically enhanced soldiers, conscripted as children. That's barbaric, but its also extremely effective, I'd know. I formulated a plan as I find the guy's mission objective, and the name of the leader, this Master Chief.

I snapped off a crisp salute, seemed the surprise the big guy in green. "Spartan 13-7 sir. Classified operative. My mission is to assist the Master Chief by any means necessary. Would that be you?"

"Designation 13-7? I've never heard that one before." The green guy looked over at a shorter man in blue armor. "Is he one of yours?"

The smaller man shook his head. "No Chief, we don't have ranks like that. He says he classified, like Noble six here," The man in black armor remained quiet, but I could feel his eyes on me, he was nearly as dangerous as this Master Chief character, I could just sense it. "But, we didn't even know Noble Six existed until just a few weeks ago. Its perfectly possible this guy was selected for a black ops team. I mean, I've never seen that armor before, or that crazy tech he was using, but he's human. Doesn't that mean we're all on the same side here?"

Master chief just looked on him. I'd relaxed my salute and stood with my hands behind my back. Awaiting their verdict. I'd hate to go toe to toe with one of these guys. From what I plucked out of the marine's mind, they were extremely fast, and strong. I might have magic on my side, but that was my only advantage, and apparently this guy was known for being extremely lucky. And I knew from experience, luck could be everything in a fight.

"Cortana, scan his suit, bring up his file." I heard a crackling voice, like it was coming in over a radio, as soon as John spoke.

"On it chief, you know me, I've had my fingers in just about every file the UNSC has ever had, I don't recognize this guy."

"Every record of me was erased as soon as the action was taken. The only proof of my existence is a small stack of papers, sitting in a desk at Oni. Unless you can access those from here, you won't find anything." I'd always hated Snape, but I'd never been more thankful that the evil man had managed to teach me legimency before he died.

Cortana, some sort of 'A.I.', a thinking computer I guess, ignored me and continued to look for me. "I found no files of him, like he said, and I scanned his suit. Its the strangest thing. This suits power sources is built into the armor plating in such a way that it doesn't require a power pack. The energy is similar to covenant energy shields, but it seems to have a broader application of uses than just as an energy shield. Reverse engineered? I'd love to take a better look but it has no data port. How odd. And I can't figure out what its made of, its at least as hard and durable as a Mjolnir Mark IV suit, but that can't be right, my scanners say the armor is organic in origin. Just nothing that they've ever detected before."

"Can he be trusted?" I had a feeling John could have skipped the techno babble of his companion. But she didn't seem to notice.

"As best as I can figure? Well, he certainly hiding something, his heartbeat spiked nominally several times during your conversation, but he's human chief. And we're in the middle of a war zone. He isn't a civilian, not with crazy tech like that, and he doesn't seem to be an insurrectionist, they've been quite for decades with the covenant war raging. I say take him with us, use him if we can, and interrogate him when we're able." I nearly snorted at that. I think the damn robot had more emotion than the human does.

John just nodded his head slightly and handed me a strange assault rifle from his back. "You're coming with us, make one wrong move and I'll put a bullet in your head. Understood? I don't know you, and I don't know what tech you were using that caused damage like that, but when this mission is over you will be interrogated to discover if you're who you say you are. Behave yourself and help us and I'll make sure you're not shot on sight at least."

I just nodded and using the memories of the spartan, poor bastard was probably a little disoriented; at least he'd put his helmet back on strait, and expertly checked the magazine of the gun, reloaded it, and flicked the safety off. Seemed like guns still worked the same in the future. Point the barrel at the bad guy and pull the trigger, don't miss. Seemed about right to me.

"I'm taking the rear, noble six, take point, everyone else stay in the middle but fan out. 13-7, you're staying right next to me. I'm not letting you out of my sight." I watched as these spartans formed up with perfect military precision. This planet, Reach, was a desert. From what I could see anyway. Apparently the Spartan IIs like this big guy that's right next to me, were trained and grew up here. It must be horrible to see your home decimated like this. I preferred to use my magic over a gun, better control, wider variety of effects, but I'd play by their rules for now. I don't know if I'll ever be able to get home, if there's even a home to get back to. I'll try, if I can find some way back to Earth. I'm just glad that it even existed still, after everything that had happened. I just had to wonder where all the wizards were? Were they all hiding in some hole? Unable to cope with the insane increase of technology that humanity had made? I'd try to find out at a later date. Right now I needed to focus on the here and now, and get to this Sword base, it needed blowing up, and I've always been good at that.

The ground around Sword base was frozen, a desert tundra, and seemed mostly deserted, the Spartans had taken out something that had been preventing them from entering swords base, the anti air towers, and I'd fallen into their laps right at the gates of the base. We entered quietly and made our way through the choked atmosphere.

Some of the covenant, a nasty collection of ugly aliens, blocked our way, but between all of us we managed to kill them. The sound of gun fire in close quarters made my ears ring, and even the biggest of the alien bastards, Elites I believe, didn't stand much of a chance. With the addition of an extra gun in the group, we were able to make quick work of the monstrosities. John stayed silent, unless he was give a direct order, he didn't say a thing. My armor wasn't linked up like there's was, different kind of communication network. I'd have to work on that later if I ended up sticking with them much longer, so for now I just followed them to the supposed coordinates. They found an elevator and seemed to think this was the right way to go.

I was the last one on, but I didn't complain. I can't blame them for not trusting me. I just hoped there'd be some way to get me back to my own time. I had a fight there that needed finishing.

"Halsey should be down below us, we'll grab her, rig this base to blow and high tail it out of here to the last extraction point." John said nothing, Just remained stoic, and eyed me the entire time. I wondered if he could speak to Cortana without the rest of us knowing about it?

2.

Dr. Halsey, the woman responsible for the abduction of children, and raising them to be spartans. She didn't look like much to be honest. Just an old woman, huddled in the dark. She seemed scared, not that I could blame her, aliens had invaded the planet after all. Her eyes widened as she saw me. Like she knew me from somewhere. I was instantly on alert, especially as she begins to speak.

"You're here, you're actually here. And I'd thought I'd finally lost my mind." The spartan IIIs stood off to the side, looking confused and aggrivated over the whole situation. John seems upset, but its hard to tell with that damned helmet on.

He looked at me and adjusted his gun slightly before he turned back to Dr. Halsey. "Ma'am, what do you mean?"

Halsey is distracted, looking off into the distance, like her eyes have been opened for the first time. "John, This man here is very important. I need you to take him with you."

John looked back at me and walked toward Halsey, It was almost comical, how much larger he appeared than her. "He dropped out of the sky, about an hour ago, and used fire to kill a group of covenant."

Halsey stared right at me and smiled. I tensed, a feeling of ominous dread filled me whole body, when she uttered the words. "The one with the power to defeat the dark lord, shall be born as the seventh month dies..."

I stagger back and raise my weapon, aimed right for her. I don't know how she knew that. But she's obviously not what she appears to be. John pulled his gun up and stepped in front of Halsey, ready to shoot me and save her all in one go. "How do you know that! Who are you really?" I felt a dark fury fill my veins, my magic itched, wanted to be free to wreak havoc.

"Please, Harry, relax. I am not your enemy." How could she possibly know who I am? Everyone I know is dead in this time, I haven't even taken off my helmet. This shouldn't be possible.

"How do you know that name?" I lowered my gun, in spite of the situation. Far above us a rumble began and dust settled from the ceiling. "You can't possibly know who I am."

She just smiled at me and placed a hand on John's rifle arm and pushed it down before she stepped around him and approached me. "Your destiny is tightly bound to my John's. What you can do is an incredible thing, something I would never have believed possible, if not for the source of the information. You were meant to come here. And you're meant to fight by his side. This has been in the works since before the beginning of our civilization, and will continue long after we are all dead."

She turned back to John then. "You must trust him, I have spoken to a remnant of a forerunner." John stiffened at that. I'd picked up that term earlier when I was rooting around in Carter's brain. Some kind of gods to the covenant. "Their reach is far, much farther than any of us could possibly imagine. They foresaw this meeting, right here in this room, they planned it to happen, from a hundred thousand years in the past, the saw it, and made it be." She placed both hands on John's arms and smiled up at him, as if a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders. "Its not my fault John, not my fault that you ended up as you are. They did this to all of us, but they had a higher purpose, a reason for it to happen, to save the entire universe."

The rumble grew louder and shook the entire room. I'm bloody confused, and pissed off. So if it wasn't fate that did this to me, its a group of ancient aliens? Just what the fuck had the world come to?

"Give me Cortana John, quickly, there's something I must give her. And then you and Harry must leave, find the Pillar of Autumn. Its in the Azod ship dock." The hulking man handed over the data chip without complaint. It struck me as odd that this imposing figure was at the beck and call of such a tiny old woman. Without pause Halsey had Cortana plugged into the terminal at her work station and a small hologram of a blue woman popped up. Is its wrong to think of a computer as being hot? Guess it doesn't matter, I'm probably going to hell anyway. I swear Cortana looked over and winked at me when I thought that.

"Are you sure about this doctor?" I realized Cortana had the exact same voice as Halsey, a little strange to say the least. Maybe she created the A.I., who knows. "we'll be going into uncharted territory. Anything could happen."

Dr. Halsey looked between John and I for just a moment before she nodded her head. "Yes, they'll find answers there. Another clue that could end this war, once and for all."

Halsey gave Cortana back to John and approached me. I was still wary of this woman, but I didn't bring any magic to my hands. I had to admit I was curious. "I know you're far from home. And quite confused over everything. All I can say is that I'm sorry. I didn't want this, but I'm afraid it necessary. The forerunner, the Librarian remnant, she told me that if I did anything right in my life, I had to convince you to go with John. So, will you go with him? I believe you'll find answers there. Answers to questions you might not have even asked yet."

What did I have to lose? Five hundred years in the future, all my friends dead, and Voldemort supposedly gone. I didn't have a clue on how I'd get home. Maybe these forerunners had something that could help me. I just nodded my head to her and snapped off a salute. I don't know why I did it, it just felt important, to show this little muggle some proper respect.

"By the way, 13-7? Magic numbers if I've ever heard them." I'm glad she couldn't see my blush from beneath my helmet. "You've very much like my spartans aren't you Harry? And yet, so different in so many ways." The room shook once more and this time I could hear the sound of alien voices on the other side of the door. "Its time for us to part ways." She turned back to John. "Go with Harry to Azod. Board the Pillar of Autumn and let Cortana do the rest. Good luck John."

He just nodded his head and muttered. "Ma'am." One last time.

Halsey turned back to the Spartan IIIs, I got the feeling she didn't care for them very much. "You lot are with me, let's get out of here."

3.

John watched at the pelican holding Halsey faded off in the distance. He was driving and I was sitting in the back. I might have got a lot of relevant information out of Carter's head, but that doesn't mean I could fly one of these damn things. It didn't take long before we ran into trouble. John hollered over his shoulder, "Banshees on our tail. take them out or we're gonna crash, this pelican isn't the most maneuverable that that ever flew." We're in a life threatening situation and the guy can make it sound like he's talking about the weather.

I turned and attached the rifle to my back with a sticking charm before bringing fire and ice to my palms. I roasted one ship, and froze another before a stray bolt struck one of the engines and sent us hurdling toward the ground. John and I made a jump for it. We hit the ground and rolled, sending up dirt and rocks. I was a bit dazed from the landing but the magic shield in my suit protected me from any real harm. We staggered to our feet and made a run for Azod.

Where did all the fucking aliens come from? It seemed we were chased the entire way, a running gun fight. John would drop the shield of an elite and I'd fry it or bury a chunk of ice in its chest. Grunts popped left and right via ruptured methane tanks, those things really hated the fireballs I reigned down on them. I would never have kept up with him before becoming a knight. I could outpace an Olympic sprinter with no trouble at all, but John was giving me a run for my money. I'd say in a long distance run I'd probably beat him, but without augmenting my speed further with magic, he'd slowly pull ahead at this rate.

I buried a conjured combat knife into the back of an elite's head as we made a running jump down a steep cliff and sprinted across an open plain before reaching Azod proper. People immediately drew their guns and held them on me but John waved them off. "This is petty officer Master Chief, this man is with me. We're to board the vessel Pillar of Autumn and speak to her caption, Jacob Keyes. To obstruct us will be in direct violation of a top priority mission for the UNSC." Faced with a legendary spartan, and a man that just happened to look a hell of a lot like one, the military personnel allowed us through. I just nodded to John in thanks. He could have made that a lot rougher on me that it had to be.

Just as we were about the enter the belly of the ship a covenant drop ship crashed the party. It swooped down and fried most of the ground crew before dumping out a fresh batch of troops. John ordered someone to get Keyes, tell him to get the ship ready to depart. The two of us stood at the doors of the ship and blasted away. John had found a rocket launcher from somewhere and fired it into a crowd of grunts. The little bastards squealed in terror and called him a demon as they went airborne.

I conjured a storm of fiendfyre and directed it around the battlefield. The monstrous flames ate everything in sight and I had to focus to keep a grip on it. So much fresh blood tended to make the hell fire unruly. Four elites managed to separate us. I'd never seen this kind yet. Golden armor and large head pieces. I dropped the fiendfyre, it had eaten most everything else at this point, and focused on the two before me.

John had taken off at a sprint to put some distance between himself and the two he was fighting. These guys looked bigger than the others. I conjured fire and threw it at them but it just splashed against their shields, making them flicker slightly. Apparently these two were made of tougher stuff. I let a few of their plasma attacks glance off my shield before I rolled to avoid a glowing blue grenade. I pulled out my rifle and peppered both of them with lead. One staggered as his shield finally popped but I'd run out of ammo. Later on I decided I was enchanting on of these things to have an endless clip, but I didn't have the time to right now. I crouched and cast a disllusionment charm over myself, and blended into the back ground.

I dived to the side while they were distracted and flung out a series of cutting and gouging curses. The stronger lances of magic managed to drop the other's shield, and bisected the one I'd staggered a moment ago. It roared at me in anger and its eyes glowed briefly, lighting up with some kind of thermal technology. It pulled an odd looking little thing from around its waist and with the flick of its wrist, two twin blades of light appeared. It charged and leaped at me, swinging wildly, trying to take off my head.

I ducked under one blow and a second glanced off my chest plate. My shield prevented the suit from being damaged but that one blow completely drained it. I managed to catch the next swing, sandwiching the flat of the blades between my palms. The heat was intense and I pushed it away as fast as I could. The palms of my gloves were mostly unharmed, dragon scales were notoriously heat resistant, but my hands beneath felt like they'd been dipped in boiling water. With a yanking motion I summoned the blade of Griffindor. The ancient weapon had been hidden away in a trunk, shrunken and attached to my belt in a secret compartment. I stabbed the elite through the gut, catching it off guard with the sword appearing out of thin air, and pulled the blade upwards, spilling its entrails all over the ground and my boots.

John came back around the corner just I pulled the blade free and sent it back to its hiding place. His energy shield was crackling around him like an aura of power, covered in just as much purple blood as I was. He stared at me for a moment before he nodded, and I did the same. Showing him the respect he deserved as a warrior. With the last of the covenant dead we boarded the Pillar of Autumn as the engines roared to life, nearly deafening, even inside my armor. John and I were ushered into a loading dock of some kind, and he went off to talk to Keyes and deliver Cortana to the computer. Within seconds I was surrounded by a dozen marines, all of them pointing their guns at me. Well that just fucking figured. So much for trusting me.

To be continued...

Well there you guys go, the second chapter of A Different War, and I've got to tell you, it was a bitch making everything line up okay. I apologize for the canon changes, but like I said above, who wants to see the same old stuff over and over again. On a personal note, I've got a Novella up for sale on Amazon and Smashwords. Its called An Unfortunate Detour. Go take a look if you're interested.

Until next time,

-Harkon.


	3. Detaining' a Super Soldier

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to say thank you for the continued interest in this story, and sorry but this one isn't going to be updated as quickly as my other, I started it first, and I'm finishing it first. I know its been a while on this one but between working on an original book, and the birth of my son, plus working double shifts, haven't had much time I'm afraid.

I won't hold this up any longer

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Halo, I doubt I'd be writing fan fiction if I did.

Chapter 3: 'Detaining' a Super Soldier.

Have you ever wondered what a cop does if he goes to arrest someone and realizes the crooks wrists are too damn big for the hand-cuffs? I got to find that out shortly after boarding the Pillar of Autumn. The Marine almost looked sorry to do it, I held up my hands and he awkwardly fumbled with a set of cuffs for a moment before giving up.

I almost laughed, but thought better of it at the last moment. Didn't want anyone to try to put a bullet in the back of my head when I wasn't looking. It didn't take long before we had left the Reach system. We'd entered something called 'Slipspace' and were following the coordinates given to us by the good doctor. John was taking a nap at the moment; in something called a cryo-tube. I'm pretty sure they froze him solid, but I'm not positive.

In the mean time I was being interrogated. They'd led me into a little room and the captain had arrived shortly after. He was a surly looking man with gray hair and a pipe he chewed on constantly.

"So, you're from a previously undisclosed branch of the Spartan II program. That's why you have different armor, and special skills."

"Essentially, yes." I'd been subtly pulling as much information out of passing soldier's heads as I could. I'd gotten a lot of stuff, but not everything I needed yet. I just hoped I could fake the rest of it for now. "You have the strangest identification number that I've ever seen for a Spartan. Mind telling me why that it son?"

We'd done this half a dozen times now. He'd ask me a bunch of questions, and I'd tell him sorry, but tis all classified. Eventually he'd get frustrated and walk off. I'd be sent back to my room for a while until we felt like trying again. I don't know how long we'd been doing this, but it felt like several weeks had went by already. Time felt weird without any windows to look out of.

If you wanted to get technical, I'm over five hundred years older than this guy. "Classified sir, All I can reveal is that it pertains to my training." At least we weren't heading back to Earth just yet. Man that sounded strange to say. But if I ever made it back there, I'd be fucked. Unless I got in to do some heavy duty memory modification... hmmm.

I could tell I was wearing on this man's patience. Captain Keyes seemed like a man of action to me. He probably hated all this bullshit he was forced to put up with. "And what is your mission exactly?"

"I was instructed to assist John-117 in any way necessary. His mission is my mission. That's all I can say sir."

"Well of course it is. I bet you belong to the damn spooks. Oni likes to put their toes in just about everything."

I did a quick scan of his mind as he talked about this Oni group. They seemed to be the intelligence branch of the military, and Keyes was very wary of them. Not that I blamed him much. Organizations like that were always clouded in too much mystery for my tastes. This would work in my favor for now.

"I'm afraid anything more than what I have already revealed in classified sir."

Keyes threw his hands up in the air, and rubbed at his temples. "Of course. We won't be able to contact to verify if any of what you say is true until after we exit slipspace. I'm putting you on ice until then. Maybe after you thaw out you'll be a bit more talkative."

"I doubt that sir." I didn't particularly want to be stuck in one of those cryotubes everyone kept talking about. They didn't sound pleasant to me. I wondered if I could place a memory in his mind of him sticking me in the freezer, and then just chill out in a lounge somewhere. If I took my armor off and conjured a regular uniform no one would be the wiser.

We'd been on the pillar of autumn for days now, how many I couldn't be sure, but I knew that we'd been traveling through this dark void for what felt like a long time. I was itching to stand up at the very least, I hated these little interrogation sessions as much as he did. "You won't be under that long, a few hours at most, but enough time to give you a nice bit of freezer burn. Sure you don't want to tell me anything?"

They froze people without figuring out how to do it safely? Maybe muggles were as crazy as wizards. "I've told you all I can. More talking would be pointless."

He merely scowled and handed me off to a technician. Poor guy looked up at me and seemed to be debating about whether he should shit his pants or not. I had to admit, with the armor on, I was an intimidating looking bastard. I merely motioned for him to lead the way and soon enough we entered what sort of looked like a small hanger, with several computers and different monitoring stations set up. Only a single cryotube stood in the room and it was occupied.

"So that's where you stuffed him." I looked at the armored behemoth frozen in place; he hadn't even taken his helmet off.

"Y-yes sir, we're close to our destination, where ever it is, and you'll be switching places with the Master Chief. He'll be coming out of cryo while we put you under for a while. We're actually very close already, but the caption insisted, said you might be more talkative afterward. I shook my head and sighed. I hated this kind of bullshit.

"So we're already here, and Keyes is just sticking me under because I won't cooperate? Somehow I'm not surprised." I stood stoically and waited as they started unfreezing John. The process took surprisingly little time. There was no dramatic stretch, or stifled yawn, he merely stood up and jumped down out of the tube with a muffled thud.

He looked at me. "You're turn?"

I nodded, "Keyes doesn't like the 'classified' status on my mission. He thinks a nap will loosen my tongue some."

John nodded and listened to the technician as he walked him through the process of reactivating his shield and checking the suit's reflex enhancers.

My own began talking again. "It'll take just a moment, we have to refill the cryotube and reset it." I didn't say anything, just stood and waited. John's shield had just come back on line and he started toward me again when an explosion rocketed the pillar of autumn.

The covenant had caught up with us; the second we slowed down they were right on top of us. We looked at each other and then toward the door. John and I took off at a run, I might not have any attachment to the people aboard this ship, but Hermione had always complained I had a bit of a hero complex. The both of us dodged fire that erupted from the wall and ducked into the corridor. It was cramped with the both of us, and the hallway was blocked. Instead of muscling our way through, we moved into an exposed access hatch that had popped open in the explosion and took off down the corridor, hell bent on find a weapon, and some aliens to kill.

It didn't take long. John was still down a firearm, but he had a punch that could break concrete, and he put it to good use as I froze or electrocuted aliens. I avoided anything to destructive, I didn't want to tear a hole in the side of the ship and invite the vacuum of space inside. I surprised one marine by catching a plasma grenade aimed at his head. With a bit of quick magic, I removed the adhesion effect of the grenade and lobbed it back at the surprised grunt. It shrieked and ran around in circles before being engulfed in blue plasma. Is it bad that I found it a tad bit funny?

I know John needed to get up to see Keyes, I wasn't overly fond of the man, but he was only doing his job. The Spartan was eerily silent as we went, until I realized he was probably talking to Cortana. That little blue woman went everywhere he did. I did a quick scan of his mind and found natural occulmency shields. Interesting, muggles had a very hard time mastering the art, much less having any natural talent for it. Must be due to the discipline he had throughout his life.

I didn't want to tear them down and alert him, but I was able to get enough info to figure out the com link he was using. I essentially used magic to copy it and integrate it in my helmet. I used a magic 'battery' rune to power it. Not to shabby considering we were still being shot at. I tuned it in and found the proper channel to communicate with him.

"_John, can you hear me now?" _I he was surprised at the voice that appeared in his helmet he didn't act like it.

"_Yes, this will make coordinating an attack silently easier. Why didn't you turn it on until just now?"_

" _It was malfunctioning, but it seems to working properly now. Hi Cortana."_

_She's currently running the ship."_

"_Oh, that's disappointing, she's definitely the more talkative out of the two of you."_

We made our way through the twisting steel corridors of the Pillar of Autumn, assisting marines where we could. I wondered how long the covenant had been there, and if Keyes knew, and just neglected to tell me, or if he was as ignorant on the subject as I was. I suppose it doesn't really matter in the end. A lone marine, ducking plasma fire and shouting at his comrades, singled us out. "Master Chief… and Spartan 13-7, Keyes needs to see you both immediately." John was as no nonsense as ever, following after the marine while casually weaving in and out of enemy fire. We hoofed it through a mess hall and down several more corridors. These ships weren't built for style. Pipes hung over head, everything either had a grate covering it or was covered in yellow and black caution stripes.

The marine pointed us toward the bridge and turned to wade back into the fight. I followed just behind John as the Spartan approached the gray haired war veteran. He was chewing on the end of a pipe, funny; I figured smoking would be banned on a space ship. Cortana was hovering near by, glow a bright shade in indigo. Keyes shook John's hand, and glared at me, as if I were a dog that had bitten his child.

"Master Chief, the Covenant were waiting on us, Cortana just recently detected them, I was unfreezing you to stick him in cryo when they attacked." He glared up at me. "I guess today is your lucky day." I remained quiet; this tiny man didn't frighten me.

He turned away from us and gestured out the three foot thick sheet of glass. My eyes widened at the sight. A massive ring, containing what looked to be an entire echo system within the inner edge. I'd never seen such a thing, not in my wildest dreams.

"Those coordinates we were given led us right to it, of course the damn covenant managed to guess our trajectory and beat us to it."

"What's your plan sir?" It was almost funny, Goliath taking orders from David.

"The ship has been compromised, I'm setting up drop points for the escape pods, I'm going to get everyone else off this ship, and am initiating the Cole Protocol." He turned to look at Cortana. "That means you too little lady. Chief, I want you to take Cortana and keep her safe, don't let any alien bastards lay their claws on her."

Cortana looked back and forth between John and Keyes. "And what do you plan on doing exactly? Go down with the ship?"

He smiled at her. "In a manner of speaking. I'm going to land the Autumn on that thing, buy everyone some time. We can rendezvous later after we're on the surface." The A.I. looked like she wanted to argue, but stopped after a moment. She closed her eyes and spoke two words.

"Yank me."

Keyes accessed her data chip and disengaged it from the console before handing it to John. The Spartan slapped the glorified flash drive into the back of his helmet like it wasn't any big deal. Keyes finally turned to me, his eyes softening only slightly.

"I hope to hell you're who you say you are. If you're one of us than prove it. Get out there with John, and kick some ass for me." He gave me a nod and briefly shook my hand. He turned to John and handed him a pistol. I found this brand of side arm particularly interesting. It seemed to have enhanced stopping power, and a scope.

"I'm afraid I don't keep it loaded, and I only have the one. You'll both have to scramble and find something." A distant scream and an explosion rocked the ship. "I'm afraid that there will be plenty to choose from. John saluted him; I just gave him a curt nod. With that done, we fled the bridge, heading for the closest escape pod.

_2._

It amazes me that anyone can actually get around in one of these ships. Perhaps it's simply because I didn't grow up in the same culture, but every corridor looked the same to me. It seemed like the covenant had infiltrated nearly every one of these bland hallways, if anything, the blood splatters and corpses were about the only things that let me know we weren't traveling in circles.

We made our way back through the mess hall, now over run with aliens, most of the marines that had been guarding the place lay dead in heaps. How did these people ever manage to fight this war for so long? Without the Spartans I'd think they'd have lost a long time ago, needed to make more of those blokes as far as I'm concerned.

Between the two of us we made short work of them. It seemed every time we came across an escape pod the thing had just fired, I wondered how many people it took to run a ship of this size? We can to a staircase that wove up to a second level, marines were pinned down at the bottom.

I looked to John. _"Divide and conquer?"_

He merely nodded to me. I hefted an assault rifle I'd nabbed from a dead marine and primed a grenade. I was still wary about using magic aboard the ship. It might be crashing, but with me luck I'd over power and fry every circuit on the damn thing and leave us drifting aimlessly. I didn't know how far we were from Earth, but I doubt I could apparate back to it.

"_I know he's technically not a Spartan, but it's good to have two of you running around. This way you'll have another target drawing fire."_

"_Thanks Cortana, I love you too." _Damn machine was awfully cheeky.

John ignored us both and held up three fingers, when they dropped we sprang into action. The pair of us ran side by side, taking the first set of stairs in two large steps before leaping off to either side and landing on the upper platform. Looked like some kind of docking area to me, with several doors leading to air locks, probably one of the ways the covenant were getting inside.

They paid us little attention at first, we'd moved so fast I imagine we blurred to the marines. One of the grunts finally spotted John just as he punched it in the face hard enough to cave its skull in. We moved like lightning, weaving in and out of plasma fire, for a big guy he was kind of graceful, like a bull in a tutu, spinning diving and leaping over his enemies. I've always been more of a bar fighter. I pushed my way through, using magic to deflect incoming plasma where I couldn't side step it. Some glancing shots I allowed my shield to take care of. No matter what happened I never stopped moving, always making my way toward the next enemy. I'd blasted an elite with rifle fire, their shields were impressive. Even at point blank it took a dozen rounds to pop one of their shields. It made them stagger, some sort of shock I imagined. After that it was relatively easy to get in close, aiming a fist at the neck of the side of the head. Sometimes I burned them, or froze them if I could, but every time I did the lights would flicker ominously. So I tried to stick with hand to hand combat for the up close and personal encounters.

John popped the last methane pack on a grunt and we were off, ushering marines and engineers into the nearby life boats while we tried to find one with enough room for us.

Cortana crackled over the radio. "_There's only one life boat left boys. We need to hurry. John, I'll set a way point to get you through an access hatch. The corridor is blocked so we'll have to go around. Harry, follow him."_

I'd have to get my own Cortana, I wonder if you could mail order one? I watched as the Spartan abruptly changed directions, he seemed to move like a blood hound following a scent, he trusted where he was going completely without question, it made me wonder how long the two of them had been working together. Maybe John was raised to trust technology?

The access corridor was dark as could be, but seemed deserted. I activated the night vision aspect of my helmet and followed the Spartan inside. There was only a single lonely grunt wondering around inside. Probably fell asleep when his group was moving through and now he was lost. I picked up that you could find grunts sleeping on the battle field sometimes, apparently they usually slept quite a lot, so the elites let them take naps during down time, funny race to pick as soldiers. He was dealt with quick enough and we came to a door leading back out into the ship proper.

"_Covenant is thick through there, we'd be stepping out right into the middle of them, there's another door just down the hall chief, let's take that one instead."_

"_You two go that way, when they see you I'll pop out of this one, we'll box them in. Easy as pie."_

John seemed to think about it for a moment before nodding. _"We'll get rid of them twice as fast that way. Maybe we still have time to get off the Autumn before she goes down."_

He moved off without another word and I stood by the door, tense and ready. I turned off my night vision, when I sprang from my hiding place I didn't want to be blinded. I didn't have to wait long. John rounded the corner and lobbed two grenades as a start. As soon as they detonated I pounced. I leapt on the back of a red plated elite and snapped his neck before burrowing several rifle rounds in the heads of the nearby grunts. John took out two more blue elites fast as lighting. We stood, barely breathing hard and shared a look. I had to hand it to him, the man was a living, breathing, killing machine, and he was programmed just right for the job.

We took off down the hall and came to the last escape pod. It was already packed full, and some poor bastard stumbled and fell right in front of the thing, the only reason we made it was because we were running. John scooped him up and chucked him inside and the hatch closed so fast on me it nearly scraped my armor.

The whole thing shook and rattled. I held on to a bar hanging from overhead and grit my teeth, praying we had enough time left. The piolet gunned it and we rocketed out into open space. I could see very little from the back of the pod, but the sudden loss of gravity was the most noticeable thing. The Pillar of Autumn didn't feel much like a space ship, unless it was being blasted with plasma fire, then you could feel the whole thing moving beneath your feet. This was different, bumpy and hair raising, and a lot like flying, if you'd tried to fly in a big tin can without anyway to see or steer. I squinted out the front window and we were already approaching the ring.

"Hold on to your asses, this isn't going to be easy!" The pilot yelled back to us as we broke atmosphere. The heat was oppressive, but not so much to cook me in my armor. I'd have to look into doing some serious upgrades, especially if I was stuck in this time for very long. The suit had never been tested in the vacuum of space, and I didn't want to know how it would fair.

The shaking grew so intense I felt my eyes vibrating in skull and felt sick to my stomach. I glanced over at John and we looked as relaxed as anyone standing on a subway car. Bastard was probably born in a drop pod. We were coming in hot, too hot. The pod rocked and I felt one of the wings snap off, the other three followed soon after and we fell like a rock at terminal velocity.

I did some quick math in my head, The Spartan and I would survive, little worse for wear, but the marines around us wouldn't make, they're organs would rupture as they bounced off of their bones. I brought my hands up and they glowed a faint purple, no one paid me any mind, they were all to focused on that tiny window at the front of the ship. I cast a strong cushioning spell laced with a shield charm just as we hit. I subtly changed the angle of the ship, it was so heavy and traveling so fast it wasn't an easy thing to do. Instead of plowing nose first into the dirt and killing everyone it bounced and skidded to a halt, rolling over a couple dozen times to slow the momentum

The marines, battle hardened and as tough as nails were screaming their heads off. One guy kept insisting that he was gonna die over and over again and I nearly knocked him out to shut him up. We were still for several seconds before they stopped screaming and realized they weren't dead.

"Everyone alright? I don't know what the hell happened but we must have hit a rock or something at just the right angle to bounce us instead of cream us. We got damn lucky." John looked at me and nodded. He reached over and gave me a single pat on the arm as show of gratitude. Who knew the big guy was such a softly?

We couldn't see outside properly, the window was caked with dirty. I walked to the rear hatch and had my suit scan the outside of the ship to make sure the air was okay. It came back positive, saying that the air was a tad oxygen rich, but other than that nearly identical to earth's. It was hot here where we landed, around 35 degrees Celsius.

The hatch was dented in and wouldn't open. John and I both gave it a kick and watched as it skipped two dozen yard across the ground. One of us would have been plenty I think. The landscape was familiar and alien at the same time. Green grass, trees, but of strange design that I didn't recognize. At first glance it looked like a planet, but at the same time, there was something odd about the way the ground was shaped, unnatural, deliberate. Someone had built this ring.

John crawled out from behind me and looked around taking in the environment. The marines came next, limping and stretching, some of the cussing. No serious injuries, luckily enough. I heard a voice in my head as soon as I saw it.

"_Covenant drop ship in bound." _Looked like our vacation was over, time to get back to work.

Wow, okay guys, I just wanted to say I'm sorry for how long that took, I'd never realized how much having another kid would cut into my writing time, but two is waay more work than one lol. Sorry it took so long to get this out, but I promise to not abandon anything.

Read and Review, and let me know what you think.

-Harkon.

P.S.- link to my urban fantasy novella can be found in my profile, support a starving artist and get your copy today! (its cheap.)


End file.
